i planted my seedlings. cucumbers, Green leaf lettuce, and tomatoes. they all have died, or are almost dead. the cucumbers leaves turned white. and they all just wilted up and floped over.
i dotn know why but im new at gardening. the seedlings were about 1.5-2.0 months old and i grew them in my house near a window. fed them tap water.
I am wonderint if you went through a hardening off process before you planted them out. Did you set them outside for a few hours of air and weak sunshine for some days to acclimate them to outside temps and climate before transplanting them? Thats the only thing I can think off from what you told us.
Woo wee that looks like some nice rich soil, I get to garden in and and yard mulch. The white specks look like a clay base fertilizer, if so with rich soil , new young plants and fertilizer too much too soon would cause your problem. Try turning your soil in a dead zone and adding some new plants,store bought. Easy on the fertilizer till they get much bigger. You have still got lots of time.
IllinoisGarden4 - What a shame :( There can be so many reasons for failure, but please don't give up. Even I have failures, and I've been gardening since I was eight (57 years!)
I agree with Jaywhacker--it looks like they were planted out without benefit of being hardened off first. When they are exposed to the sun and wind without benefit of hardening off first, they just can't handle it. You MIGHT be able to save those tomatoes. Clip off the bottom leaves so they don't have as much growth to support and rig up some shade from the sun for them. Keep them watered (but not soaked) and just see what happens.
thanks i never knew i needed to "harden them off" i saved 2 tomatoes and 0 cucumber plants. but i should have enought time to start some new ones. im a newbie. :)
Welcome to DG, IllinoisGarden4. This is a good place for you and I think you will enjoy it. Don't be shy asking about ANYTHING you aren't sure about! I'm sure someone on here will have the answer you need. We love helping newbies :-}
I have the same problem.
I started growing my cucumbers and tomatoes in one of those pellet tray things. They were going good and then all of a sudden they started wilting and going limp. The instructions said to water them once the soil looks light brown and that's was I was doing. So I figured I wasn't watering them enough, so I began to water them more and that hasn't helped.
Then I think I made a bigger mistake. I read about hardening the plants, so the last couple of days I've been putting them on the deck at noon and taking them in at 5 when I get home from work. They would get direct sunlight for those hours and from reading above, I assume that is a bad thing?!? So when you harden the plants you should put them in the shade for the first few days?
So now the plants that weren't already wilting, are now yellowing and wilting. So I think I have killed the ones that were doing ok (including a whole tray of peas too). So my question is, what is the best way to try and bring them back? Outside, inside, sunny, shade, water, no water, etc.? Thanks.
Hardening off needs to be gradual. Make sure the temperature is at least 55 F for peppers, cukes and tomatoes. Start with an hour in the shade, then two hours, and so on. After three hours start adding in some early morning sun. After a week or two, when you are up to 5 hours sun, then they are ready. During hardening off, make sure you water them. If they are in pellets they will probably need more water very couple of hours. Also pay close attention to the wind. The seedlings are very wind sensitive when you first start hardening them. You will be amazed how quickly their stems thicken up once they get out to play.
I have had no luck at all with cucumbers. Once they show signs of a mistake, they are goners, at least for me. Tomatoes and peppers, however, are amazingly hardy. Give them some light shade, keep the soil moist, and do not fertilize. They will probably recover.
Good luck.
Ed
Crittenden,
I would keep them indoors for now, and follow normal pellet watering guidelines. I am not familiar with Zone 2a weather, so it could be too cold, too hot, too much sun, too much wind, too little water or too much water. With luck, many of them will recover. Once they perk up and show fresh green growth, you can begin hardening again.... slowly.
Ed
Crittenden,
Cucumbers grow so fast it would be easier to just wait and start them in the ground. Even with your short growing season, you should get cukes. Unless I'm making pickles, they end up being like squash and zukes for me--I'm always looking for someone to give the extras to.
Thanks for the advice guys. Yeah, I think I probably tried to harden them too fast.
Yeah I figured I could have waited with the cukes and peas, but I was excited to plant my first garden and wanted to get started asap, ha ha. Plus, I thought if I started some a few weeks early, I could harvest from them a few weeks earlier than the others and spread it out so that I am not wasting.
I understand--we all get excited about starting our gardens in the spring :-}
LOL!!
My first year, I totally forgot I was supposed to harden things off. One day they were on the bathroom windowsill, the next they were in the garden. Here's the thing. I transplanted them on an overcast afternoon. We got heavy clouds and light rain for the next five days. I didn't loose a plant. If you can't be good, be lucky. That's what I say...
Ed
I've long teased my daughter that she's had her own personal fleet of angels watching over her. How many are in your fleet Ed?
Marleine
LOL!
I don't know. I think I had a big bunch of Angels, but the bad habits of my misspent youth burned most of them out. Here is a tale of what two of them did for me: http://www.epinions.com/content_4734754948
Trust me. You will be amazed.
Ed
Oooooh yeah! You have as big a fleet as my charming daughter, LOL! And I don't believe angels burn out--they're still around. And they will be wearing whatever is appropriate for the occasion. You're two in the story needed those mini skirts in order to get your attention--worked too, didn't it :-} Good story--thanks for sharing it.
WOOHOO! i saved some tomatoes and then gave in and went to buy some. :P my garden is about done.
what do you think abouyt my placement they far enough apart? i was thinking i put them to close maybe.
My store bought plants said 24 to 36 inches apart. I did 24 and it's a jungle now. Good news no sun for the weeds. I just slide my feet when I wade in. Yes your's look a little close but you have room on the outsides to move around.The plants will adapt. Hope I helped ya some.
